Spotlight: Russian-Turkish PMs agree to quickly restore bilateral relations

Tuesday's talks between Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and his Turkish counterpart Binaly Yildirim in Moscow are believed to have been key in reviving bilateral relations, particularly economic ties.

"The main goal is to reset our trade and economic cooperation. We must resume steady growth," Medvedev told reporters Tuesday after the meeting.

Relations between the two countries soured last year after Turkey downed a Russian warplane near the Turkish-Syrian border, which Russian President Vladimir Putin called a "stab in the back," and ordered a range of sanctions against Ankara, devastating the Turkish economy.

The eight-month-long period of icy relations began to thaw in June after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan apologized for the downing incident, and Moscow began gradually lifting its restrictions on Ankara.

Putin met with the Turkish president in Russia's second largest city of St. Petersburg in August, after which the two have kept frequent phone conversations on bilateral ties and regional hot issues.

Putin held talks with Erdogan during a visit to Ankara in October on the sidelines of the World Energy Congress.

Medvedev said that he discussed with Yildirim a broad range of topics including trade, investment, oil, gas and nuclear energy issues, as well as high technology, agriculture and tourism.

Among major bilateral projects they discussed was the Turkish Stream pipeline to deliver 15.75 billion cubic meters of Russian gas per year to Turkey and the same amount to European Markets through the Black Sea.

The project was initiated in 2014, but was suspended until Putin and Erdogan signed an agreement to revive it during the Russian president's October visit.

The Turkish parliament has ratified relevant agreement and Erdogan signed the law on ratifying the agreement with Russia on the Turkish Stream. The Russian parliament is expected to ratify it in the near future, according to Medvedev.

The two heads of government also reviewed issues pertaining to the construction of Turkey's first nuclear power plant Akkuyu based on a Russian design, another project suspended due to the cooling relations.

He said that the Turkish side has taken all necessary political decisions to speed up the project and facilitate attracting investments valued at around 20 billion U.S. dollars and to be put on stream by 2023, when Turkey celebrates the 100th anniversary of its founding.

Yildirim said at the joint press conference that the two sides were aimed at reaching an "ambitious goal" of increasing bilateral trade to 100 billion dollars per year from the current 36 billion.

"The goal of 100 billion is feasible. To achieve this, it is necessary to lift restrictions, ease visa rules and increase the tempo of trade," Yildirim said.

Ankara also wished to restore tourism to previous levels, as Turkey used to be one of the preferred destinations by Russians before ties worsened.

On the Syrian crisis, both sides agreed that the top priority would be to normalize the situation in the Middle East country, while emphasizing a settlement must be primarily resolved through an intra-Syrian dialogue.

Yildirim said Turkey wants to put an end to the humanitarian crisis in the northern city of Aleppo, provide the people affected with access to humanitarian aid, and create proper conditions for Syrian refugees to come back.

Euphrates shield, the ongoing operation by Turkish troops in Syria, aims to achieve these goals, he added. Endi